t anna matranga has reaction. >> reporter: pope benedict xvi stunned the vatican saying he no longer has the strength to do the job. the 85-year-old pontiff says he will step down at the end of the month becoming the first pope to resign in 600 years. church leaders express their sadness. >> it's like watching your own dad get old. and admit that he's not up to all the duties of being a head of a family involves. >> reporter: the news quickly spread through st. peter's square. >> i hope the next pope can be better than this one. >> reporter: pope benedict became head of the catholic church succeeding pope john paul. some say he didn't go far enough. >> he wasn't ever as popular as the other popes and there are a lot of questions over how he

handled the sex scandal in particular. >> reporter: there are several contenders but no clear front runner. >> who among this body has the qualifications, the characteristics, the spiritual gifts to fill that chair. >> reporter: pope benedict appointed half the cardinals that will choose his successor. the vatican hopes to have a new pope by easter at the end of the month. at the vatican, anna batangra. >> angelo scola, and cardinal mark polet, are in the running. the pope's decision stunned the local catholic community. rochelle richie has reaction from catholics and the arch bishop. >> reporter: this news is very

unexpected and many parisheners is very surprised. parishioner are stunned that pope benedict is stepping down. >> the only thing i'm thinking is he may be sick. >> reporter: it's been more than 600 years since the pope has resigned. this afternoon at the archdiocese, arch bishop lori is thanking the pope for his nine years of service. the arch bishop says that the pope was on his mind. >> his holiness expressed great appreciate for the history of this archdiocese as the first and the oldest in these united

states. >> reporter: with the pope stepping down the thought is turning to who will take his place. >> i hope it'll be a younger person who's been waiting in the wings for this period to resolve. >> reporter: the pope will end his eight year tenure on february 16th. we're following breaking news, an accident causing serious problems on the beltway. captain jeff long with more, what's going on? it doesn't look too bad right now. >> no it looks like it's finally clearing up. this is in the center loop. two vehicles involved in this accident. one person was transported via ambulance to the hospital. and a couple of state police vehicles remaining on scene to investigate. right now only one lane is getting by on the right hand side but they're starting to pick up the cones so this

should be clearing and on the outer loop traffic is slowing down to take a look. creating a little bit of a slow down through townsend. reporting live, i'm captain jeff long, back to you. >> there are those delays, captain jeff thanks. and an update on the traffic update coming up from wjz coming up in a few minutes. now a man is charged and police are calling him an animal. wjz is live at the home in northwest baltimore. megan mccorckel there. >> reporter: conners was a social worker who worked with hiv and aids patients but on sunday morning she was found dead in her home. a horrifying discovery, the body of 32-year-old jennifer conyers tied up in the basement of this house as it was up in flames. detectives say she was suffering from blunt force trauma to the head.

now police have arrested 38- year-old monti carter who they say met the victim on an online site. carter beat the victim and took her car. >> everybody was looking for the victim's vehicle. on sunday they found the mustang and the suspect behind the wheel. he admitted to partying with a friend and abusing drugs. taking mrs. conyers personal effects and coming back and killing her. >> reporter: conyers said she met the victim on the internet months ago and the two had a relationship. he admitted to stealing her bank card and using it to buy

drugs. >> megan, thank you. according to court documents, carter has previously been convicted of burglary, theft and uttering false documents. three people are dead following a shooting inside a courthouse. the shooting happened this morning at the new castle county courthouse in near by willington delaware. jessica kartalija has the latest for us. >> reporter: police are still trying to find the motive behind that shooting. delaware police are still trying to determine what led to a shooting. >> a lone gunman walked into the public area and opened fire. two people were killed one believed to be the suspect's ex- wife. police are now saying it

stemmed from a domestic dispute. one witness describes what she saw. >> she just said there's been a shooting as i stated once before, she i couldn't make out what she was saying because she was so distraught. like so i'm not exactly sure if it happened in front of her or whatever the case may be. >> reporter: two capital police officers were also shot but were wearing bullet-proof vests and are expected to survive. the suspect was also discovered dead at the scene. >> we're still investigating whether that was as a result of the exchange of gunfire or whether that was a result of a self-inflicted gunshot. >> reporter: police locked down the building to make sure there was not another shooter on the scene. >> i have talked to them several times and they were moved to jury services and i understand that they were searched. my judge's secretary was escorted out of the building by a s.w.a.t.

member. >> reporter: now the shooting happened on the same day that wilmington's police chief was supposed to attend a round table meeting with vice president joe biden. thousands of people are still without power after a winter storm dumps up to 3 feet of snow this weekend. this is what a 32-mile stretch of the long island expressway looked like for much of the weekend. car after car buried under that snow. one woman was stuck for 12 hours. crews worked through the night to clear out the snow from the expressway. fortunately we did not get any of that snow. here's a live look outside from sky high chopper 13. look at that beautiful sky as the sun sets. that could change. wjz is live with first warning weather coverage. bernadette woods and bob turk are updating the temperatures. >> the weather never really remains totally static. it always does change around here. let's look at temperatures

right now around the 50-degree mark. some spots even warmer. 64 in western maryland and cumberland, yet temperatures were as much as 22 degrees cooler than they are right now. we're running 8 degrees warmer today than we were yesterday. 21degrees warmer up in cumberland. as far as snow is concerned, bernadette woods has a look at those pitiful numbers. >> there's been a lot of talk about snow over the past weekend for obvious reasons. so we're going to update you on our snow numbers. this season so far we've received 6.4-inches that's it. last season 1.8-inches of snow total. an average for a season around here is 20-inchless. just over 20-inches and nobody really forgets, just a couple of years ago, three years ago when we receiveed the record of 77-inches way off that the last couple of years. there are two chances for snow coming up this week and we'll have that coming up in the

forecast. back inside. >> bernadette, thank you. mayor black proposes some changes in her state of the state address. pat warren is live, and where the mayor just addressed the city council. pat-- >> reporter: that's right, the mayor offered a broad outline of what thinks the state has to do. mayor blake was greeted by a warm greeting but her state of the state was met with opposition. baltimore could face a shortfall of nearly $2 billion over the next 10 years. the city has had to handle a fiscal crisis, aggravated by a

weak economy. a disintegrating economy. >> we must make our government smaller and more efficient. we must invest and break down the bureaucracy to save our taxpayers dollars. >> reporter: mayor blake's plan included reworking the tax structure. >> i will not allow the structural deficit to be balanced solely on the backs of baltimore city residents and employees. not on my watch. private developers will be a part of the long term solution. >> reporter: the report issued last week by public financial government sites employee pension and health care cost. >> baltimore's pension system for civilian workers is the only large system in maryland that doesn't require an employee contribution. that must change. >> reporter: the mayor is also

proposing trash removal user fees. >> and we are having a little technical difficult there. thank you pat. mayor blake told council members that she has never been one to sugar coat things. still ahead, seeking justice after a teenager is killed. >> still flying high after 40 years. that story as wjz continues. >> looking for ways to save some money and the environment at the same time. go shopping. we'll explain just ahead. >> pretty much cloudy all day, but sun is in our future. don't miss the updated first warning forecast with bob.

it is cloudy, 52 degrees in central maryland right now. the complete first warning weather forecast is coming up. it was a successful launch into space but the mission is all about earth. alex demetrick reports, land sack eight is the latest experiment of a mission dating back 14 years. >> ignition and lift off. >> reporter: the launch from bande nburg air space was picture perfect right into orbit. >> full thrust, everything is looking good. >> reporter: lan said it would take over satellites launched 14 years ago. >> it's giving us a new look at how the plant is changing due to natural and human effects. >> reporter: like the change in rivers where they swell into floods. and the change in up as cities grow and expand outward.

a time lapse covering years and a mission controlled in maryland at the godard flight center. >> the continuity of that data is critical. we have to keep going because we're measuring the rate of change of our planet. at the rate of scale that people aren't used to. >> reporter: like its earlier versions the spacecraft maps the world. but new sensors will pick up greater detail creating the breathtaking beauty of the big picture. alex demetrick. >> that is really neat. data is free and available to anybody. it has been used to study everything from climate change to watering crops on family farms. if you're waiting for someone to get home from work let's check on the roads with christie breslin on abc traffic control. christie i know we had that accident on the beltway. >> i know they're working on clearing it up.

we have one lane that's blocked up. it is affecting traffic as well. it's backed up to green spring avenue. also having an impact on the outer loop delays stretched there to charles street. on the west side of the interloop, the ramp blocked off. an accident at baltimore boulevard. also in essex. and we still have a situation in the churchville area. some fire activity has aldino road closed between parkins run. as far as other delays go, traveling 295 watch for slow traffic as you make your approach over to route 32. let's take a live look. there's a look at the inner and outer loop. it looks like it's moving much better. this traffic report is brought to you by ski liberty, snow tubing and everything leads up to a great time at the ski liberty where every day is a fun winter snow day.

back to you. it's back, a chance for maryland consumers to save money and help the environment at the same time for the third year in a row, sales tax will not be collected on energy star appliances. >> p they buy one of these energy star appliances this weekend, saturday, sunday monday they avoid the 6% sales tax. some of these appliances are $1,000 so that's a significant savings there. they then save in the operation of the appliance because it's an energy efficient item. >> reporter: this year it'll be held saturday february 16th through monday february 18th at stores across maryland. and consumers will find stores are already running president's day specials so the savings will add up. >> on top of that you don't have to pay sales tax on energy

star appliances and you have a bg & e rebate which gives you 100 to $155. >> reporter: so expect sales on air-conditioning, furnaces, programmable thermostats, solar water heaters and cfl bulbs. local businesses say it helps their bottom line. >> it's a nice boost for our business. it takes us through into the spring. >> again the dates of this year's tax free energy star weekend are february 15th through monday 18th. and they will keep doing it every year. >> good program. >> state law. it is a good program. >> stock up on lightbulbs. >> if anything. >> they last forever. not a bad deal. and save some money. take a look at temps throughout

the region. pretty pleasant out there considering. south winds at eight, the barometer rising. we'll come back with more clear skies after this.

the car on the left was filled up with low detergent gasoline. while the car on the right was filled up with bp gasoline with invigorate. which helps clean and protect its engine so it can get a few more miles per tank than the car on the left.

clear now. >> yeah. >> as we said it would eventually be. we'll still have clouds and the rain for a while. the temperatures jumped up to look at this 56 degrees down there right now. 50 at pax river, 54 in cumberland. it's beginning to clear out, drier air will move in. 52 annapolis, kent and westminster and bell air. right now we still have a southwest wind but later tonight the winds will go back to the northwest. it'll bring drier air. we still have a good deal of sunshine tomorrow. here's that front. a little bit of rain and snow to the east of us the rain we saw this morning offshore, temperatures stayed above freezing last night. so we don't have freezing conditions. a few spots north of the city. pennsylvania had a little bit of sleep for a few minutes then it was just light rain.

temperatures stayed in the 30s, mid-30s. deep pressure, some snow up there moving to dragging this moisture along the southern area of the united states. pretty much south of us but some of that is going to come back to the north by wednesday. wednesday night we expect low pressure to be developing offshore and then move away. two questions remain, how much moisture get -- gets into the baltimore, maryland region. and how much air will be there as the moisture arrives. looks like we'll see some rain on wednesday. then we'll see some rain. it's an iffy situation. it could stay south to where we get just a little bit of it. maybe just a little bit of rain wednesday or wednesday night. we'll keep tracking that for you as we head into wednesday. the bay temp around 38 has gone up a little bit. so tonight becoming partly loudty and breezy down around

37 -- partically cloudy and breezy down around 37. it'll feel cooler than today because the breeze was close to 50 in most places. although the wind was not a factor although it was damp but we got some major improvement. could see a little rain and it could end as a period of snow on wednesday night. still ahead on wjz eyewitness news at 5:00. >> the big name who wants to be anne arundel county's next executive in the wake of the l eopold scandal. the future of america, president obama will focus on the u.s. economy on his state of the union address. we get a preview. >> and observing black history month, listening to baltimore's voices in the struggle for civil rights. the story coming up here on wjz.

>> and here's today's report from wall street. we'll be right back.

it's 5:30, 52 degrees and mostly cloudy. good evening thank you for staying with wjz eyewitness news. here are some of the stories people are talking about tonight. a former maryland first lady wants to be anne arundel county's next exective. but she faces some tough competition.

mike hellgren has kendall ehrlich one on one talking about her future. >> reporter: kendall ehrlich says she was not even thinking about it until she started getting calls. >> it's really something that's tailor made. it's a unique circumstance that i'm uniquely qualified for. >> reporter: ehrlich says she only wants to fill what is left of leopold's term which ends next year and then leave office. >> it's so unique to have the circumstance. you get to just do the job and not worry about raising money.

>> reporter: the house will be given to the person who gets the vote of the majority council members. several of them are vying for it too. it must be filled by a republican. those interested to replace leopold must complete a questionnaire by this friday. >> it's not that i'm totally autoristic. i would wrap it up and send it to the next person after there's an election. >> reporter: the majority here is four of the council members will also be interviewing the candidates. mrs.ehrlich says she plans to get her paper work filed formally before the end of the week. mike hellgren. >> interesting story, mike. thank you. others considering the job include council chairman jerry walker, vice chairman, mike

gressor and steve schuh. president obama's state of the union will be familiar to his speech at his inauguration. >> reporter: when president obama gives his state of the union address he will be focused on the economy. >> the core he has placed on these speeches will remain the same which is the need to make the economy work for the middle class. >> reporter: in his second inaugural address, the president highlighted immigration reform and gun control. but with unemployment still hoovering around 8%, democrats are eager to hear the president's plan for getting americans back to work. republicans have been keeping their emphasis on jobs and the economy. >> the sooner we begin to address our physical problem. i think the sooner the economy will begin to increase. >> reporter: as part of his economic message the president is expected to ask lawmakers to

invest in education. the nation's crumbling infrastructure and clean energy. while gun control won't be the central theme, it will still get some air time. several lawmakers have invited victims of gun violence. former congresswoman giffords is joining ron barber who now holds her seat. add giffords' husband will be vice president's joe biden's guest. >> congress must act. >> reporter: president obama will take his state of the union message on the road later this week. on capitol hill, tara mergener. >> some outspoken opponents of gun control legislation have also been invited to the president's state of the union

address. police are investigating the death of a woman at a clinic in montgomery county. the 29-year-old woman died last week after undergoing an abortion. pro-life protesters say the clinic in question is known for routinely conducting late term abortions. police say there's no indication of criminal activity. a $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest in the murder of a capital highs woman. prince george's police say mcintire was found with blunt trauma on her body. they were checking on her. mcintire died at the hospital. police say they have a vague description of the suspect. the áf police in chicago are questioning two men in the murder of a 15-year-old girl who was part of last month's inauguration ceremony. the family of hadai pendelton

are hoping this will lead to charges. >> none of us will get our hopes up until we hear there are charges. >> reporter: and charges will be imminent in the case of hadiya mendelton's murder. >> it is comforting that one less killer is off the street. >> reporter: the teenager had just returned from president obama's inauguration and was seeking cover from a storm with friends when a gunman opened fire last month. this morning mayor ron emmanuel called her mother personally. >> we're hoping that changes take place. >> police say the suspect being

questioned are ages 18 and 20. time now for a quick look at some of the stories you will find in tomorrow morning's edition of the baltimore sun. how umbc students are embarking on a project to record more than a century of tradition. how candy has become the economic driver for valentine's day. and a look at the top 25 questions facing the orioles as they lead into spring training. look for the updated forecast from wjz's first warning weather team. for all the world to hear is a project that umbc featuring personal stories about the civil right's movement in baltimore. ron max has more on the story and is part of the black history month. a look at an amazing exhibit at the maryland historical society. >> centers pearl bailey and mahaley jackson appeared in baltimore in the 60s. their photos are part of the

henderson foundation. and renounced sports reporter sam lacy appears in the photos. >> we have so many greats here in baltimore. >> reporter: blue coleman and robert houston are some of the story tellers they were part of baltimore's civil right's movement. >> what we take for granted now has not always been that way. someone had to pay for that. >> i don't know how, why it was that i got involved, it just seemed the right thing to do. >> reporter: their stories will be told here tomorrow night as part of the for all the world to hear project at umbc. >> yes, we're performing here at the maryland's historical society as well as other venues throughout the city. it's part of our outreach project to get out into the community. >> reporter: there are 6,000 photographs in this amazing collection and 75 to 80% of the

people in the photos remain unidentified. >> we've had people coming in over the last year trying to identify some of the people in these images. we'd love to have people continue to come down and do that. >> reporter: ron max, wjz eyewitness news. >> beautiful photographs. tomorrow night's for all the world to hear program is at the maryland historical society and begins at 6:00. >> save extra time to really take time to just look at -- >> and relish them. >> those photos are amazing. still to come, million dollar reward, that's how much is being offered to anyone who can help find that excop and accused killer christopher dorner. >> going to the dogs for the next couple of days. new york will be overrun by poochless. blind the scene at the westminster dog show coming up. >> bob turk in the weather center, we'll have your five

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clearing skies in the region. that will bring in some drier air and bring us some sunshine on your tuesday. a look at that forecast bernadette woods in the forecast. >> what a beautiful shot that was. we are clearing out tonight. we are going to drop temperature wise but not as bad as you think. tomorrow with sunshine around a gusty winds out of the southwest cooler than today but still above average at 48 degrees and then 40 degrees for tomorrow evening. for the rest of the five day here's bob. >> as i mentioned wednesday we might see some rain. it could end with wet snow in some parts. of course we'll have to determine that by early tomorrow, early wednesday. we may see some snow shower activity late saturday and into sunday. sunday may only be in the low to mid-30s. mary. >> bob, thank you.

a tornado touched down in southern mississippi and within seconds it caused millions in damage. thankfully no one was injured. the man hunt for an accused cop killer continues in california. police are now offering a $1 million reward. christopher dorner remains illusive. >> reporter: 600 tips have come in since the l.a.p.d. issue add $1 million reward for the capture of expolice officer christopher dorner but dorner's whereabout remain a mystery. >> officers came out here, they surrounded the lowe's they locked it down. >> reporter: agents are

stopping every car crossing the mexican border. and the man hunt has been downsized. dorner's t burned out pickup truck was found in the area. >> they opened all the doors and looked in places that a person could be. >> reporter: investigators have been on dorner's trail since the killing of a police officer. he's also accused of killing a river side police officer tuesday. the search has the l.a.p.d. department stretched thin. they try to look for dorner and they take care of their own. in a manifesto, dorner promised to kill officers and their family. >> to have your family targeted because they're related to you, that's absolutely frightening. >> reporter: in los angeles, edward lawrence, wjz news.

>> the lapd says the money for the $1 million reward is not just from police organizizations, corporations and public donors also contributed. thousands gathered at cowboy stadium in honor of chris kyle. tomorrow a 200-mile funeral procession will deliver kyle's body to austin texas for burial. police say kyle and another man were killed by a former marine who kyle was treating for ptfd. that man is now charged with murder. an emotional day at the white house as president obama awards the medal of honor to an afghanistan war veteran. former staff sergeant was among 50 u.s. troops that came under attack by hundreds of taliban fighters in 2009. ramisha repeatedly risked his life in a long day fire fight. he also led others to safety

and helped recover the bodies of fallen soldiers. in health watch tonight, a new study out today confirms what we have known for quite some time. americans are eating too much salt. but as allison harmlan reports, some packaged foods are now getting some help. >> when i go into the supermarket i look at the package and look at the sodium. if the sodium is extremely high i don't buy the food. >> reporter: salt in packaged foods is to blame for 45% of our salt intake. 21 food companies including kraft, heinz and subway got together in washington to announce they've lowered salts in their products. >> the changes are going to have a big impact on the

public's health. >> reporter: most people consume a tablespoon a day which is much more than recommended. >> lowering sodium is really the goal that you want to have to lower blood pressure then prevent stroke, renal disease, heart attack. >> reporter: larkins doesn't eat out that much so he can avoid too much salt. >> i am going to eat like this the rest of my life, i am going to keep up with it because i want to stay healthy. >> reporter: in new york, allison harmalin, wjz news. >> major bloomburg also led the charge to ban transfats on menus and limits the size of sugary drinks. if you noted it costs a little more to fill up your gas tank lately you're not alone. gas prices jumped up a quarter

for a gallon this last week. according to aaa the national average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.59. here in maryland we are actually paying a bit more than that. $3.60 for a gallon on average. last month we were paying $3.42 compared to this time last year we're paying about 2-cents more. more than 2,700 dogs are in new york city vying for the title best in show. marley hall is with the pooches as they get the star treatment before they take center stage. >> more than 2,000 dogs are in new york city getting the star treatment. >> she's a high maintenance girl this one. >> reporter: from their fur to their paws these canines want to look their best for the 137th westminster kennel club dog show. >> i've been showing her waiting for the state to come for five years now. >> reporter: rebecca lin jeff and her dog nikki are making

their debut this year. >> they like to be around people. they're just lovable. >> reporter: 187 breeds and varieties are competing. fin is a 48-year-old collie from maryland and he's already won best of breed. >> he might be a little anxious with all the people around but not nervous. they're used to it. >> reporter: dogs have come here from several countries including brazil, croatia and japan. >> is he hard to handle because he seems bigger and heavier than you? >> not really. just have to go with it. >> i do the best i can. >> reporter: jewel is one of the favorite for best in show. her owner says a win would be huge. >> wow, i mean you would have to look at the breed and say that's an american dog hound:

you didn't know what it was did you. >> reporter: the owner and dogs find out who gets bragging rights tomorrow night. >> they are so cute. blanket rocket ship is a bermese mountain dog. for these stories and more coming up, here is denise koch. >> the pope steps down. how the catholic church is reacting to finding a new leader. >> an update from police on the investigation of a woman's death. >> check in for these and all the day's breaking news. spring training starts tomorrow. meet one young pitcher who will be in a heated battle to make the team. >> stan has that story coming up next in sports.

this is my friend diane. she's played by the rules her whole life. but then the rules flew right out the window. having just lost her husband

she stepped up and adopted her three grandkids, while working full time and caring for her brother eddie, with cerebral palsy. i get the three children up. i walk andrew at eight i drop olivia off at eight thirty. spend a few minutes at emilio's school. i stop at the grocery store, and then i might do some laundry that has to be done. and then i have about five minutes. the baby sitter comes in and then i go to work. i'm not back home again until 11:30 at night. hard as she works, it's still a struggle to keep up with the bills and stay warm at night. when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need only citgo, the people of venezuela and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like diane's. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm this winter call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold!

this may be hard to believe

but the orioles will start spring training work outs in a week. stan joins us from masn. >> earlier today, buck showalter said he's looking forward to the competition between the young pitcher on his staff. one of those young pitchers is jake arieta. jake pitched in relief in september and he will now be one of many candidates for a rotation spot. >> pretty much each and every year going into camp. everyone is in the mind set of trying to win a job. it's no different from any other year i feel like this season. it's going to be exciting. a lot of comradery and healthy competition. i think everybody is going to put their best foot forward. i think a lot of guys are going

to make it difficult for the staff to put together a team this year. >> reporter: pitchers and catchers report tomorrow. first spring training game set for february 23rd. coming up at 6:00, we'll have reactions about the terp's disappointed effort against virginia on the hardwood. plus the philadelphia eagles make a decision on michael vick. yesterday marked the chinese new year. snakes are regarded as intelligent but with a tendency to be some what unscrupulous. kai. >> interesting. >> yes, very interesting. still ahead on eyewitness news. a baltimore city social worker found tied up and dead

inside her burning home. i'm megan mccorckel in northwest baltimore with more details on the man now arrested in

coming up on wjz news, an online meeting leads to murder. troubling new details about a woman found dead inside a city house fire. a violent morning in delaware where three are shot inside a county courthouse. the latest on the investigation coming up. >> it hasn't happened in centuries the pope is stepping down. i'm rochelle richie with the reaction from local parishioners. a really nice start to our workweek. is there any winter weather in our horizon? >> we'll find out. check in on these stories and all the day's breaking news.

>> wjz news starts now. sudden resignation. the first pope in over 600 years steps down. hello everybody i'm denise koch. >> and i'm vic carter.